1 01

" David, you're gonna be late for school!"

Young sixteen-year-old David Parker, was suddenly awoken from his sleep by the loud banging on his door and the stern voice of his uncle Ben shouting at him that he was late for school.

" Sorry, Uncle Ben!" David shouted back.

David quickly got out of bed and ran to the bathroom in his room. Something he was lucky to have. It meant he didn't have to share with his aunt and uncle.

David stepped out of the shower and dried off his body. Thankfully, there wasn't much to dry, despite David's disappointment. He just never seemed to be able to get bigger, but then again, he never really cared much about being some kind of jock. He always put his studies first. Preferring to strengthen his brain. And it is for that reason alone, that today, David was going on a field trip with his class to the Star Labs branch in Seattle.

After showering, David ran downstairs, wearing a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, old clothes that were given to him by his uncle, with his old gray backpack and a camera.

" See you later, guys!" David yelled as he ran out the door.

" That boy, as energetic as always."

" Yeah. Should have told him to bring home some light bulbs, I want to change this one out." Ben told May. He rubbed his chin and looked up at the flickering bulb and sighed.

...

" Hey! Wait up!" David was yelling at the bus as it drove down the street. He indeed had been late, and just as he walked out of the house, the bus pulled off, forcing him to have to have to chase after it.

Meanwhile the kids on the bus and even the driver himself were laughing as David banged on the side of it.

" Hey, come on, he's been running for two blocks now. Can you please let him on?"

There was at least one person with a heart on the bus, and her name was Mia. Mia Dearden. Daughter of one of the richest men in the United States, and perhaps even the world, John King.

" Fine, whatever." The bus driver finally muttered.

Thankfully, the bus driver started slowing down and eventually came to a stop, giving David a chance to get on the bus.

" Thank you...." David said to the Bus driver.

" Yeah yeah. Thank her." The driver replied as he pointed at Mia.

" Dude, you suck."

" Way to go, Parker."

" Parker your lame man."

" Bruh that was sad."

David ignored the irritating comments coming from the other students.

" Thanks Mia." David waved to the young lady, unaware that one of the other kids had stuck his foot into the isle. " Whoa!"

David hit the ground face first and a round of laughter came from the entire bus.

...

Garfield High school, Seattle.

After a short but agonizing ride to School, David was happy to finally get off of that damn bus.

" I swear, I'll be glad when I graduate." David muttered.

" David, hey! What's going on buddy?"

David looked over from the school and smiled as his longtime friend, Roberto Dacosta. Roberto was a light skin young man, with curly black hair the stood up over his head.

" Hey, Berto."

" You ready for this science trip, man?"

" Yeah, I've been looking forward to this for months. A trip to one of the greatest labs in the world, Star Labs. And I heard Dr. Palmer was going to be there." David exclaimed.

" Who's that?"

" Dr. Palmer, one of the world's greatest physicists. His study of atoms and biomass is leagues ahead of anyone else's. The guy's a genius." David told the boy.

" Ah, David, you're my friend and I love ya. But you keep speaking nerd like that and Mia will never talk to you man. You gotta learn to be like me. Cool and smooth."

" The only smooth about you is your brain, Berto." David joked.

" Oh, now he makes jokes?" Berto scoffed. " Where's that at any other time, eh?" Berto asked the boy.

" I'm not sure. Probably where you keep all that grease." David laughed.

" Oh, okay funny guy. I see how it is."

" Come on, Berto. We're gonna be late."

" Yeah! Yeah! I'm coming." Berto replied.

...

A short time later and David and Berto were being shuttled onto a bus for the science trip to Star Labs.

" Oh, man. I'm so excited for this."

" You always are."

" Yeah, I mean, the ideas that Dr. Palmer have put forward, like the idea of being able to alter the size, shape, density, and mass of a person's being? That's amazing!" David exclaimed.

" You know, David, my father works for Star Labs. If you're so interested, I can see about getting you an internship." Berto spoke.

" Nah, I'm good."

" Why not? If you love the place so much, then take it."

" Because, I want to earn it, Berto. I won't get very far, if I just let everybody hand me everything, I'll never make it anywhere." David explained.

" Alright, man. If you say so." Berto replied. " Look, we're here."

Berto pointed to the magnificent science mogul, Star Labs.

The Bus pulled into the parking lot full of people and before the students would be let off, the science teacher stood up in front of the class.

" Alright, remember we are here on behalf of the scientific institute of Garfield high. While the lecture is ongoing, you are to remain quiet, take notes, and to learn as much as possible because there will be a test coming up on some of this stuff. If you fail to behave, I promise you will flunk this class. Understand?"

" Yes, sir."

A collective groan of annoyance came from many of the students on the bus. Most of them didn't even want to be on this trip, but it was mandatory.

" Good, now let's go."

David and Roberto, both got up with the rest of the class and started exiting the bus, as they did, Berto grabbed David's shoulder and pointed to the black rolls royce pulling in behind them.

" Hey, look. It's Dearden and her father."

" Yeah." David replied.

The two watched as the sullen girl got out of the black vehicle with her father close behind.

" She doesn't look so happy. She looks upset about something." David spoke.

" Nah man, I'm sure she just doesn't want to be here. No one but you seems to want to." Berto told David.

" You think I should say hello?" David asked.

" Sure, go ahead. Introduce yourself." Berto told the boy.

For a moment, David seriously considered it, but the more he thought about it the more he lost his nerve.

" No... I don't think it's a good idea. Besides her dad's right there and it seems like they're talking about something important. I'll just... Try again later." David told the man.

" Man, David. You gotta stop psyching yourself out hombre. Sooner or later ya gonna miss the chance man." Berto told the boy.

" Yeah." David muttered.

" Parker! Dacosta! Let's go!"

" Coming, sir!" David and Berto shouted to their teacher.

The two boys turned and ran towards the building to join the rest of their class.

...

" Students of the scientific institute of Garfield High, welcome to Star Labs, my name is Dr. Raymand Palmer. Today, we were originally going to discuss, the scientific properties of my new atomic structure and the analysis behind it. But due to some... Less than fortunate circumstances, that is no longer possible. But do not worry, we here at Star Labs have brought forth a new and exciting project that we figured we'd give you all the first chance at getting a glimpse of. Our study on spiders. Now, we will start at the display of our controlled spiders, of course they are simple spiders, found in nature nothing nothing less, and then we'll move on to the display cases further along, which will hold our " Super Spiders." If you will." Palmer explained. " Now, before we begin, is there anyone with any questions?" Palmer asked.

David's hand shot up, along with his camera.

" Yes, Young man with the camera?"

" Dr. Palmer, my name is David Parker. I was actually hoping, we could talk about your recent paper in scientist monthly. Your new study on the Particle Accelerator, and how this image, if you will, will affect what we currently know about the universe?"

" You read my study?" Palmer asked the kid. He was used to kids from schools coming just for a grade, but hardly ever did any of them come with knowledge of his work before hand.

" Yes, sir."

" And you understood it?"

" Yes sir. I think, your advancements in the study of atoms and particles, as well as the way they are applied to the medical fields and energy divisions are amazing."

" Well, thank you young man. I guess, I could spare a brief explanation. So simply put, for those who don't know, the particle accelerator is a device that speeds up particles, the substance that makes up all the matter in the universe. And using this machine, we force matter to collide faster allowing us to study those particles and the forces that shape them. Now this version of the particle accelerator will allow for us to get a better grasp of the concept, because even with all that we do know of Particles, and matter, and atoms, and space, there is still so much we don't know. And we're hoping that the very least we'll get some semblance of understanding." Palmer explained.

" That sounds amazing, sir."

" Thank you, Mr. Parker. I know it doesn't sound like much. But even a small step, could impact various aspects of life. For example, the hero the atom, his ability to warp his size is amazing. Can you imagine, the years of technological advancement we could make if we knew how he did so?"

" I have a theory on that, sir."

" Oh? Well, let's hear it Parker."

" Well, I know from video footage, he uses his belt. Now, I believe he's using some form of matter to alter his shape, and density, allowing for him to shrink down. The question is, I'm not entirely sure what kind of matter. Perhaps some form of interdimensional matter? I mean he is a member of the league, and considering what that entails, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities." Parker spoke.

" That is... Quite a theory Mr. Parker. But not a lot to go on. Matter comes in many different forms these days. And while it maybe possible. It could also be possible to be perhaps something unique to his biology." Palmer explained. " As you've said, there are many different abnormalities amongst the league, Martian Manhunter for example has the ability to change his density, allowing him to phase through matter." Palmer spoke.

" Ahem!"

A stern cough from the assistant beside Palmer took his attention away for a moment.

" Ah! It seems I am holding us up." Palmer spoke. " Forgive me, you all are probably ready to get moving. Come along, now, everyone." Palmer exclaimed.

The class finally got to moving into the lab.

" There are over thirty-two thousand known species of spiders in the world. They are in the order arani" Palmer explained.

" Whoa! Check it out, Berto." David spoke. He pointed to the giant machine in the center of the room with enthusiasm. " This is the most powerful electron microscope on the western hemisphere. It's similar to the one in New York and Metropolis." David explained.

" Dude, you are such a nerd." Berto laughed.

" Arachnids, from all three groups possess varying strengths that help them for their constant search for food. For example, the Delena spider family sporosity has the ability to jump to catch its pray." Palmer explained.

As he did, David raised his camera and took a picture of the jumping spider. Before moving on.

" Next we the Netweb spider. Family Phyllis tetaday genis kukulkania. Spins an intricate funnel shaped web, whose strands have a tensile strength proportionately equal to a type of high tensile wire used in bridge building." Palmer explained. " Next is the grass spider, who hunts using a set of reflexes with nerve conduction velocity so fast that some researchers believe it borders on precognition. An awareness for danger, a spider sense if you will. Now, for the big boys. See, we had the idea to take genetic samples from all three different families of spiders and combined them together in these fourteen genetically designed specimens you see here in the center of the room. Super Spiders if you will."

" Uh, there's thirteen." Mia spoke up. She was closer to the glass stands than anyone else and as she looked in them, she noticed one of the cases was empty.

" I'm sorry." Palmer muttered.

" One's missing." Mia replied.

" One of our researchers must have pulled it from display to study it." Palmer spoke. He seemed slightly aggravated but didn't let it show much. " That's okay. We still have thirteen other remarkable specimens to showcase."

Off to the side, David and Berto were watching, and as Mia continued to study the spiders, Berto spoke to him. " Come on, buddy, look. She's into this mess just like you are. Go on, go talk to her." Berto told David.

" I don't know man."

" Look if you don't go say something to her, I'll go tell her for you, how bout that?"

" Hey man, knock it off."

" Go."

" Man."

" Go!" Berto finally exclaimed. He shoved David on his back and pushed him towards Mia.

" Alright, alright!" David replied. He shrugged Berto off of his back and walked straight up to the young lady. " Alright, here we go. Hey, Mia."

Mia turned around and looked for the voice that called her, and when she saw David, she smiled. " Hey David, right?"

" Yeah."

" How are you enjoying the trip?" Mia asked.

" Oh, I'm having a blast." David replied enthusiastically.

" Well, what's up?"

" Well... I was... I was hoping... I need a photo for the paper, with a student. Would you mind?" David asked the woman.

" Sure." Mia replied.

She stood back and David raised his camera.

" Right there." David told the woman. He looked at her through the camera lens and smiled.

She was certainly beautiful. Her straight blonde hair, down to her shoulders, her beautiful green eyes, her soft pink lips. She was stunning.

David started snapping multiple shots of the woman.

" Alright, I think, I got enough. Thanks Mia." David told the woman.

" Awesome. You have a good day David. And try to get up a little early from now, on, okay." Mia told the boy. She walked past David and waved goodbye. " Bye David."

" Yeah, Bye." David said to the woman. He watched as Mia walked along with the rest of the class, still smiling, unaware of the danger looming over him.

Slowly crawling down the web was a red and blue spider. A certainly weird kind, in fact never before had a spider of its kind been seen.

It lowered its way down until it finally met David's neck and when it did, it bit down hard causing David to jump from the pain.

David slapped his hand on the back of his neck reflexively.

" What was that?" David asked himself.

" Hey, David, you alright man?" Berto asked the boy.

" Yeah... Just fine."

" Alright, then let's go, the class is getting ready to move on." Berto told the boy.

" Right." David muttered.

He followed Berto along with the rest of the class, but something was different. No matter how hard he tried to pay attention his mind was just foggy. Black. And he wouldn't know until later, how much his life was about to change.